Cabin owner describes encounter with squatter killed in police standoff

A Valemount man told a coroner’s inquest Tuesday about finding John Robert Buehler unexpectedly squatting in the trapper’s cabin he owned in the days prior to a police standoff that would end in his death.

Milton Balon said he had shown up during the late night of Sept. 7, 2014 intending to stay over at the cabin about 60 kilometres south of Valemount only to find the lock on the gate across the driveway had been changed.

“And I look up and I see this guy coming down with a flashlight,” Balon said. “And I said ‘who are you’ and he says, ‘my name’s John.’”

At that point Balon said he knew who he was dealing with.

“I knew exactly who he was when he said his name,” Balon told the inquest.

It just so happened that one of Balon’s neighbours was among the people Buehler had confronted about three months before when he and his daughter, Shanna, had parked their RV at Camp Creek, a community recreation area about 10 kilometres outside of town.

According to the Rocky Mountain Goat, the two had taken over the local recreation club’s picnic area and log cabin and had blocked a public trail. He politely refused to leave when first approached by club members and a few days later, he unleashed his German shepherd dogs on a pair of horseback riders.

RCMP were called in and a four-hour standoff ensued with Buehler using the dogs as a shield while his daughter begged him to surrender.

Following the apprehension, several firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized.

About a month later, Buehler was released on an undertaking to appear in court on Sept. 4, 2014. When he failed to show, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Balon would have his own encounter with those dogs when he ventured further onto the property. Balon, who had owned the cabin for about 30 years, said it was on land leased from the Crown as part of his registered trap line.

When he stepped onto the cabin’s deck to show Buehler a brass plate the government had issued to him to signify the lease, Balon said the dogs were “right there” and growling at him

“Not very comfortable,” Balon said when asked how he felt.

Balon also noticed that all his possessions had been cleared out of the cabin and tossed over a bank, while a clutter of Buehler’s took its place both inside the cabin and in the immediate area outside.

“You name it, everything he had in life – tools, trailers, his truck, deep freezes, smokers, food cache, chicken feed, dog food,” Balon said.

“He threw all my wood out of the woodshed and filled it up with his stuff.”

Balon said he was there for about 45 minutes as the two engaged in a tense but civil conversation. Buehler never verbally threatened Balon while Balon was careful not to provoke Buehler, the inquest heard.

When Balon asked him to leave, Buehler wouldn’t answer, the inquest was told.

“He just kept saying ‘we gotta talk, we gotta talk,’ and I said ‘I am talking man, but you’re not listening,” Balon said.

Balon had previously been at the cabin over the Labour Day long weekend to build the deck and to replace the decking on a bridge heading into the site which had been washed out and then replaced by a neighbour.

Balon speculated Buehler and his daughter had been camping on the other side of the washout before the bridge was replaced.

“He told me it took him two weeks to move in,” Balon said.

The encounter ended with Balon telling Buehler he expected him to be off the property in seven days when hunting season began. From there, Balon drove back to Valemount and called the RCMP the next day.

RCMP shot and killed Buehler on Sept. 17, 2017. Shanna was also shot but survived.

Buehler has been described as a manic-depressive who refused to take medication and as a violent and abusive man who had come to believe he was a prophet of God and that the end-time was nearing.

It was also determined that his daughter had been dragged into a tragic and difficult situation and was eventually issued a conditional discharge by the court.

Shown a series of photos taken after Buehler’s death, Balon confirmed the boxes of ammunition found at spots around the cabin and depicted in the images were not his.

Testimony at the inquest at the Prince George courthouse before coroner Donita Kuzma is scheduled to continue through to Tuesday.

A seven-person jury has been asked to make any recommendations that could prevent similar deaths in the future.